“Today, I formally announce my campaign for U.S. Congress,” said Harrington, a restaurant owner who received almost 40 percent of the vote in 2010 against Wasserman Schultz.

Appearing last week at Wing’s Plus in Coral Springs – a popular meeting place of politicians from local council seats to the President of the United States – Kaufman teased the crowd about the possibility. Kaufman, 57, an independent registered with no party affiliation, described herself as a “straight, evangelical, Hispanic with a Jewish heritage.”